Machine for distortion correction in metal plate



May 22, 1945- G. L. MILLER .2,376,853

MACHINE'FOR DISTORTION CORRECTION 1N METAL PLATE Filed Jan. 3l, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet -1 l Il ATTORNEY Patented May 22, 1945 -"IMAGHINE-EFOR'A DISTORTION CRRGTION IN` METAL PLATE Y y `c :feorge Lee Miuenoamonromd Y f-'ApplieatonJanuary 31, 1941, Serial No. 376,914

)4 claims. (01. y15s-,52)

`"Ih-isi invention'hrelates' to themstraightening or lthe bringing to correct -contour of-ldistortedmetal plates; particularly 1such metalplates are vused for armor plate.

In the working; heat treatment-"and formingl of l-metal plates. itl has been"4 extremely-'-`dilcult to vproduce afplate conforming to the exactcontour edesired, for dueto `the internal stresses set-"up during treatment-warpage'of the'plate willocour uwhen |cooling. Such' 'warpedplates' havee'in the i `10 past been straightenedbrbrou'ght to contour by presses with the rplate manipulated zmanually but such vpracticecan only be `used forA small' and Are1- fatively thinA plates. The; trend-in the pastiew -heavier metal plates-for armoring-fof'tanks, trucks,- airplanesl and 'other equipment of either kthe mobile onstationary' typeand *it'llas been found--extremely hard V'to `produce plat'esto the f -propercontour` by `use of existing methods; for itam) vvis' practically impossible tovso shi-ft'and' control the heavy plates as' to obtain the'proper straightening action lby the pressfwhile maintaining any @reasonable rateiofiproduction. Furthermore, the

eshiftingof the extremelyeheavy platerequires"at` 25 Ylarge Anumber of \men landtdu'ring` `times L`of-'national-emergency #it ^is= necessary Jthateaswmany einen-be releasedleas possible frornfshop VWork. i 'It -i`san-object; thereforeyf the present invention 4to provide a means for straighteningcor*-contouring -30 of v`metallic plates Imore' accuratelyL and @with a minimumofmanual'labor. #Af further object Iof the' inventionvis the' -provif sion oa vmeans" forefstraghteningeor contouringthe plate itself.

A- stille' further `-object=- ofthe-invention' `is the provisionl of: an'improved 'means for straightening -or contouring Imetallic -platefloyJ applying pressure `thereto at/predeterminedvpoints aridirr predeterl 40 `minedrepeatable sequence.

vA yet-furtherrobject of the invention -is 'the proyisiomof-a straightening'vo-r contouring means for =fmetal1ic f-platesfwhichstraighteningfor .contourf stantially .uniform*fdistributon-ofn stresses placed '-in 'the lplatel duringstraightening or contouring vfthereoi. f

These and `other obj ectsy of '-the invention:` will study of f the f following description# and.: accomf'i'panying drawings, in which;y i

*Figure 111s a; -partial' -fror'itviewsy orfani-improved machine? forsx straightening -orecontouringt metal plate; v l f ""Fig is asectionalivewtakensubstantiallyon line'n 5450i Fig-'6 andffshowingtheidriveishaft Fand connection l'for causing-horizontal `movement Uin' Fig;'7. n

Referring now vtothev drawings vin" detail; it Awill be'seen thatthe-machines*shown 1 and '7 are'of generally* 'the-samei-form comprisingside work aof anyilength may-'be` fed'throughthe `machine-andof awidtl'i-"substantially equalV tothe Width-between uprights. The uprights are i additionally tied "together/'below thei'throat openings t by^means of the-front plate iI 0" carryingY fatf'its upper-ende an enlargementI jI 2*-for1ning a ytable or platform "upon which thefstati'onary 'die-Ml 6-F may metallic '-platefwith= a minmumofemovernent `of 35- 4be"'fastenedin anysuitable'manner. This die', -oi coursefmay bei of any"sin'table form but Iin the v"present case is provided-with spaced removable portions' I8a formed of extremelyhard metal/'to resistthe thrust'placed thereon.

The movable die Arwhich:y isrshowrr as adapted Ato Aloe reciprocated verticallyrelative tothe staofdie slide clamp 22; all-'as' 'clearly' shown in"` Figs.

' 2 and 3. The'die slidey "is" formed" with# a- Eproj ec- --iing means mayibef-sovoperated as A,to-insure a sub- 45 slide; to therarnv4 but-wl1 transfer'loadsiromtm slide to the ranrproper. 'I'heram isl moved verti-` Vcallyl'nf means" of "thrust rds""3ll"'having^ball and A"socket connection-at-the lower; endslwith'the ram of power, preferably clutched to the gearing and may directly and mechanically control the clutch or it may control the flow of current to a mag`y netic clutch, or to an electric operator of the mechanical clutch in any well known manner. The thrust rods 3U are provided with micrometer adjustments in 'order that the lowermost position of the ram and. accoringly the die aCB may be accurately controlled. The adjustments of the thrust rods may be independent or' eacn other in order to permit slight tilting of the ram, or they may be -interlocked so astoffbemovable in unison. Insofar as the machines of Figs. lfandf?V are Aconcerned tne preceding description applies to both and accordingly the same reference -nu-` merals have been used. i j Y l In Figs. 1, to 6 inclusive the machine hasbeen modiecl by attaching thereto a means for caus-` ing longitudinal movement ofthe die relative to theram. In this case the die A has attached thereto-at its rear face a blockA secured in posi` 'tion by `bolts or other means 42. rThis block isv internally threaded to receive lead screw M jour-` naled at its ends in bearings lili. These bear-l ings, as clearly shown in Figs. and 6, are formed with a bearing portion shaped to receive the ball bearings or other :antifriction means 48 and also formed withprojections `50v and 52, theformer,

being clamped in position by the die slideclamp, While the latter Ais fastened by meansy of bolts 53 directly to the' die slide. Y The antir'iction means is held in place and protected by means ofy an i outer cap iwhichvmay be removed, thus permit-,

ting removal ofthe entire lead screwY and Vanti-` riction bearingfasseinbly without necessitating l j removal of the bearing supports from the die slide.`

tive thereto and is guided by means of guide plate 82 fastened to the standard or upright of the machine. The rack is connected by pitman 86t0 a ring 88 driven .by the shaft 32. 'Ihe position of the ring 88 on tne shaft may be changed, thus f out of the machine although it will, of course,

It will, of course, be obvious that if desired the entire assembly may Ibe removed from the ram by vremoval of the die slide. The lead screw projects through one of the` bearings as clearly shown ini Figs. l and 5 and has keyed thereto pulleys 56 adapted to receive belts 58 which connect them to rthe pulleyslll carried` on the armature shaft of a reversible motor or, other prime mover 62 fastened on and movable vwith theram. In the in`v stanceA shown the prime mover for the lead screw.

is a reversible torque motor with its current sup` ply controlled in conjunction with the ram movementso that the die cannot be moving when it isI lowered upon the workv to apply deforming pres` sure. However, by provision of the torque motor,

no damage to the parts or overheating of the 'motor W171i be occasioned even if'fth'edie should` be moving horizontally when it comes in contact with the work. and permit leasy movement of the die in the die slide as well ask of ythe lead screw in the die block, lubrication openings 64 and 65 respectively (Fig.

3) have ibeen provided.v

left hand'threadsand is supported for rotation on with a gear 'I6 operated by a rack '18. The clutchingdevice `'ill includes an over-'running clutch of the reversible pawl type in order `that the lead screw may be driven only on either the up stroke j or down stroke of theram. This Arack is provided r`with elongated slots- 8!) by means. of which itmay l :be attached to the ramends for movementA rela- In order to properly lubricate be obvious thatunder certain conditions it may "be desirable to havefthe work rest upon movable vused merely for illustrative purposes for any metal plate could constitute the work. With the Work placed on the stationary dies pressure on the foot treadle will cause the ram to operate and it will be driven vertically upward and downward away from and toward the work with its lowermost stroke position so adjusted as to 4force the curved plate a very slight amount beyond its true or vfinal position in order that when the deforming pressure is relieved on the upward stroke of the ram the plate will remain in its proper and correct position. On the upward stroke of the ram the driving means for the lead screw, whether it be the motor or the rack and gear, will cause the movalble die to slide horizontally relative to the ram in order that it will be in. position to act upon a new area of the Work on the next downward stroke of the ram. The terms vertically and horizontally as used here are merely descriptive of the movements of the machines shown and are intended to be l synonymous with movements toward and across the In the slight modicationshown in Figs. 7 andi 8 the lead screw 'lll is provided lwith both right and work-respectively and irrespective of the portion of the work in space. y

It is obvious from the preceding description that the die may slide longitudinally of the ram, that is, across the surface of the work, at all times when the die is free of contact with the work but moving toward or away from the work, and it is also obvious that in the form shown in-Fig. 1 the die may also slide relative to the ram at all times when the die is not in deforming pressure contact with the Work irrespective of whether the ram is moving or not. With the die reciprocable with the ram in a vertical ydirection and slidable along the face of the ram it will be seen thatv the stresses on the ram will be distributed and not concentrated at one point and that the die has been given two degreesof freedom of movement. Also with the die slidable along the ram it is not necessary for the work to be moved in order that onel strip of the work maybe straightened or brought to correct contour.` It is, of course, obvious that if one area. in the strip to be operated on requires more than one stroke oi" theA press or aj greater or less overlap of the points of contact betweenthedie and the work,

such operation may be vobtainedA without moving the Work since the position of the die acrossxthe It iS, 0f

work may be positively controlled. Furthermore,

by reversal of the lead4 screw rotation a reversal` and duplication of operations on the metal plate or work may be obtained without moving the metal plate or work. After straightening or bringing one strip of the work to proper contour the work will, of course, have to be moved into or out of the machine slightly to bring a new strip or area into position for contact by the dies. In, most instances where the operations involve a mere straightening orl bringing of a spherically curved plate to a plane surface the application `of deforming pressure in deiinite positions and strips to an area wholly spaced within the borders of the plate will be suilicient to straighten the same, whereas in previous operations where full movement of the plate relative to stationary dies was necessary and definite position of impact could not be controlled application of pressure to substantially the entire plate area was necessary to straighten the same.

While the invention has been described more or less in detail by reference` to drawings show`- ing two forms, it is obvious that the invention is not limited to a specific type of machine but may be applied to any machine and involves broadly the movement of reciprocating dies relative to the main reciprocating parts in order that trips or areas of the work may beloperated on without shifting the work in the machine. It is also obvious that various modifications and rearrange-4 ments of parts may be made by those skilled in the art and all such modications and rearrangements of parts are contemplated as will fall within the scope of the appended claims defining my invention.

vWhat is claimed is: v

1. In a machine for bringing armor or other metallic plate to final contour the combination of a stationary die for supporting the` plate,

by said power-driven means during upward move-v ment of, the ram thereby causing rotation of said A yram, means carried bysaid reciprocable ramV and connected to said movable die to cause sliding movement thereof, and additional means connected to said first named means to cause said sliding movement of the movable die along sub stantially the entire edge of the ram, said additional means including means operating to cause said sliding movement of the movble die only A' when said movable die is out of contact with said plate.

3. `In a machine for bringing armor orother metallic plate to final contour the combination of a stationary `die for supporting the plate, a vertically reciprocable ram, power driven means to reciprocate said ram for application of deforming pressureto said plate, a movable die attached to said ram for sliding movement along the ram, means connected to said movable die to cause sliding movement thereof, and connecting means joining vsaid last named means and power` driven means and operated by said power driven means during upward movement of the ram to `cause a predetermined sliding movement of th movable die. I

of a-stationary die for supporting the plate, a

' `vertically reciprocable ram, power driven means GEORGE LEE MILLER. 

